


Life Gives You Lemons

by elegantcollectionkoala



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, between os241 and os242, missing episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26361256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegantcollectionkoala/pseuds/elegantcollectionkoala
Summary: Ash turned into a Pikachu, no big deal.
Relationships: Kasumi | Misty & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Kasumi | Misty & Takeshi | Brock, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Takeshi | Brock
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Life Gives You Lemons

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like the writers really missed a good opportunity with this episode. I knew in advance (thanks bulbapedia) that Ash turned into a Pikachu in Hocus Pokemon, and I was really excited to see what they would do with it, so when I got to the episode I couldn't even enjoy it because I was just waiting for the crucial moment, which happened right before the credits started rolling. And then the next episode started and Ash was still a Pikachu, but before I even had the chance to think, "Oh, I guess they'll spend this whole episode with Ash discovering what being a pokemon is like," he'd already turned back into a human! How disappointing! But that's what fanfiction is for, I guess.

Misty put her head in her hands. Just when she thought life couldn’t get weirder, life liked to prove her wrong. She looked at Brock, who acted like this was completely normal, then down at Ash, who was now a Pikachu. He was also acting like all was right with the world. Knowing him, this was probably a dream come true. Ash was so immature. 

Lily and Murkrow had left in a hurry a few minutes ago, right after reassuring them all that the effects of the spell she’d messed up wouldn’t be permanent. That wasn’t really comforting. 

“Ash, weren’t you in a big rush to get to Blackthorn City this morning? Let’s get a move on!” Misty snapped. If Brock and Ash were going to act like nothing was wrong, she could too. And all things considered, this wasn’t the strangest thing that’s happened to them.

“Come on, Misty! Don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Ash replied as he chased Pikachu and Togepi around. “The gym isn’t going anywhere, but who knows when this spell will wear off!”

Brock sat down. “Ash has a point. This isn’t an experience you can get more than once, so he has to take full advantage of it. Why don’t we have lunch?”

Ash’s ears shot straight up. “Awesome! I’ll take some Pikachow please! So long as I’m a pokemon, I gotta eat like a pokemon too!”

Pikachu ran up next to its trainer. “Pika pi! Pikachu chu!”

“Yeah, great! Let’s battle til lunch is ready!”

“Huh?!” Misty supposed she shouldn’t be so surprised. “Do you even know how to use a move Ash? Shouldn’t you try to use one outside of battle first?”

“I guess.” Ash turned to Pikachu. “Think you can show me how it’s done, buddy?”

“Pikachu! Pika pika. Chu pi-pika,” Pikachu explained.

Ash nodded along with a focused frown. Pikachu slapped its cheeks and sparks flew. Ash followed suit. There weren’t any sparks. Misty chuckled.

“Good thing you didn’t just jump straight into a battle, huh Ash?”

“Shut up, Misty! I’ve gotta focus, quit distracting me!”

Misty just rolled her eyes and turned to help Brock get lunch ready.

“You know, I think Lily’s spell really did work,” Brock said as he stirred his world famous Mystery Meat Stew. “It seems like Ash has no trouble at all understanding what Pikachu is saying.”

Misty turned and watched as Pikachu lectured Ash. He really did seem like he understood it. “You might be right, but it is Pikachu. He normally has a pretty easy time understanding Pikachu anyway, so we need to test him on other pokemon. Like Psyduck!”

“Good idea. I think for now though we should just let him practice his moves. I’m interested in seeing how well he’ll battle. Maybe this experience will help him at the league.”

Misty hummed her agreement and finished setting the table in silence, then sat down to watch Ash train. He was finally getting the hang of using electricity. Pikachu said something to Togepi, who abandoned its game of running around the two pikachu and climbed into Misty’s lap. As soon as Togepi was out of the way, Ash launched an electric attack at Pikachu. It landed and Pikachu jumped up and down in joy, squealing excitedly at its trainer, who just stood on all fours with a huge grin.

“I did it. I did it! Misty, did you see that? I used a thundershock attak!”

“I’m shocked Ash! Good job! Give it a few more weeks and you might be ready for a battle!”

Ash glared at her. It had little affect though, given he was a cute little pikachu. “I don’t have weeks, Misty! I have to have a battle now!”

“Well, not against Pikachu. It would wipe the floor with you. I think Psyduck is closer to your level, but I doubt you’d even give it a headache.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out! Misty, I challenge you and Psyduck to a battle! Pikachu, you can act as my trainer!”

Ash took off his hat and put it on Pikachu’s head. It looked thrilled and the two of them got into battle positions. Misty quirked an eyebrow then turned to Brock.

“I guess I accept. This is going to be weird. Is there enough time before lunch is ready?”

“Yes, I have to let the stew simmer for a while, so I can even act as referee.”  
“Psyduck, come on out!” Misty tossed Psyduck’s pokeball as she walked to her battle station. Psyduck didn’t pop out. “Psyduck? Didn’t you hear me? It’s time to battle!”

Nothing happened. Then Ash started laughing. Misty growled at him. “Psyduck, come on, please!”

The pokeball didn’t even twitch. Brock was holding back laughter now too. It never had an issue coming out when it wasn’t needed, but of course it would refuse to now. 

Misty sighed. “Why me? Oh well, I guess I’ll have to battle with a different pokemon! You up for it Ash?”

“Of course I am! Hit me with your best shot!” Ash held up his little pikachu fist, with Pikachu holding an identical pose behind him. 

Misty smirked. “Alright then, Staryu I choose you!”

“Hyah!” it said after popping out of its pokeball, just like it was supposed to. Staryu had a lot more sense than Psyduck.

“Everyone ready?” Brock asked. Once both sides confirmed they were, he raised his hand. “Battle, begin!”

“Pikapi pikachu!” Pikachu called out, jerking its arm to the side like Ash always does when he calls out commands. 

Misty didn’t let that distract her. As Ash sent a thundershock, she managed to tell Staryu to dodge just in time. 

“Staryu, Swift attack! Now!”

“Pika-chu!”

Ash tried to jump to the side, but tripped and fell on his face, allowing the swift to hit him full force. He groaned and got to his feet. Pikachu called out another move and Ash started running towards Staryu on all fours. 

“Water gun attack!”

Staryu used water gun, but Ash managed to dodge it. He circled around Staryu, gradually picking up speed. Staryu kept launching water gun attacks but couldn’t manage to land a hit. Ash kept running faster and faster and before Misty knew it, he’d become nothing more than a blur. Did he just learn quick attack on the spot? She had to come up with something quick!

“Switch to rapid spin attack!”

Before Staryu could begin its rapid spin, Ash launched himself straight into Staryu’s gem, knocking it to the ground. Ash stood still for a second, rubbing his head with his hands. He looked disoriented.

“Ow…”

“Use your rapid spin now!” 

Staryu landed this rapid spin and Ash went flying. 

“Pikapi? Pika pikachu?”

Ash got to his feet. “Yeah, I can keep fighting. I won’t give up, no matter what!”

“And I’m not going easy on you, so get ready to lose! Staryu, use your water gun attack again!”

“Pikachu!”

Ash used thundershock, which stopped the watergun in its tracks. He seized the moment to quickly use thundershock again before Misty could call out an attack. It knocked Staryu back a little, but did significantly less damage than a normal thundershock should have. Misty called out another rapid spin attack, which landed and definitely knocked Ash a little silly.

“And that’s it! Misty is the winner!” Brock announced as Ash sat up.

Ash’s ears drooped and he pouted. “Aw, but I can still battle! This is so much fun!” 

“Well, as referee, I declare this match over. Lunch is ready. You can battle some more after you eat.”

His ears perked back up at that. Misty rolled her eyes. Ash was so predictable. Everyone sat down and Brock passed out everyone’s food, with Ash getting the same stuff as Pikachu. Ash took a wary sniff, then watched Pikachu take a bite first. Pikachu loved it, as always, so Ash warily took a bite of his pokefood. 

“I thought you were excited to try pokemon food, Ash,” Brock noted with a frown. “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s good. It just looks kinda different than the stuff I usually eat, you know. I think I prefer your jelly donuts, but this isn’t bad.”

“Well, that’s good. Eat up, you need to recover your strength after that battle.”

“I can do that! Man, that battle was a lot of fun! Using moves feels really weird though. Hey, after lunch, can one of you catch me? I wanna know what the inside of a pokeball is like too!”

Misty dropped her spoon. “Catch you?! No way! Then I’d be responsible for you as your trainer! Absolutely not!”

“Aww, come on! Brock? Please?”

Brock frowned. “I dunno, Ash. I don’t think I’m really comfortable with that. That might not be such a good idea anyway, since you’re not normally a pokemon. Who knows what might happen?” 

Ash’s ears drooped. Misty and Brock exchanged glances. Misty had to admit she was curious about what a pokeball was like, but she was not about to become legally responsible for Ash, no matter what. And Brock had a point. So she just turned to Togepi and fed it a piece of pokechow. 

Pikachu gave Ash a comforting shoulder pat. “Pikapi, pika pika, chu pikachu!”

“Pikachu, you’re the best! Thanks so much, buddy!”

“So you can understand Pikachu? What about the others?”

“Yup! I can understand all of them perfectly!” Ash flashed a proud grin, as though he’d actually done something to achieve that ability and it wasn’t just a magic spell. “Anyways, Pikachu said it would catch me!”

“Does Pikachu have a pokeball to catch you with?” Misty deadpanned. This day just kept getting weirder.

“Uh, can we borrow one of yours? I’ll give you one of mine when I become human again!”

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea. What if you turn back into a human while your in the pokeball and everything breaks and you’re stuck inside forever?” Brock said, even as he reached into his backpack for a spare pokeball.

Misty, Ash, and Pikachu all stared at Brock. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” Misty reassured him. “That seems like a stretch. Besides, we’ve dealt with worse. If something bad does happen, we’ll just fix it like we always do!”

Ash nodded emphatically. “She’s right! I’ll be fine, promise!”

“I suppose.” Brock sighed and handed the pokeball to Pikachu, who held it in both hands and tossed it as well as its tiny pikachu arms would allow. Misty giggled as it hit the table mere an inch from Pikachu’s feet and rolled really slowly to Ash, who was watching it intensely. The ball tapped Ash’s foot and opened up, pulling Ash in with a red light. The ball didn’t even shake once before dinging that Ash had been successfully captured.

Pikachu jumped up and flashed a peace sign. “Pi pikachu!”

“You caught an Ash!” Misty chuckled.

“Pika!” Pikachu said enthusiastically as it pressed the button on the pokeball to let Ash out.

Ash appeared and shook himself out then looked around a little disoriented. “Uh, did it work?”

“Yeah, you’re officially Pikachu’s pokemon now. How does it feel?”

Ash blinked up at Misty. “Kinda weird. It uh… I’m not sure how to explain it. I mean, it was comfortable being in the pokeball, but it also felt like I was taking a break from existing. I understand why Pikachu hates being in the pokeball, but I can also understand why the rest of my pokemon like them.”

Misty stared at him. He wasn’t making sense. “Whatever you say, Ash. So, you played as a pokemon, battled as a pokemon, ate pokefood, and got caught in a pokeball. Anything else you want to do before you turn back into a human?”

“Yup, there’s just one more thing!” 

Ash jumped up onto Misty’s shoulder, making her nearly fall over.

“Wow, this is really comfortable! I can totally see why Pikachu likes to sit on my shoulder all the time!”

“That’s great. I’m glad my shoulder is comfortable, but next time could you give me a bit of a warning?”

“Whatever. Actually, your shoulder is kinda bony. Maybe Brock’s would be better.”

Ash jumped back on the table and leapt onto Brock’s shoulder, making him grunt in surpise.

“Yeah! That’s much better!” Ash said with a grin.

Misty frowned. She had a sneaking suspicion Ash was just trying to rile her up. 

“I’d rather you ride Brock’s shoulder anyway, you’re pretty heavy.”

“And I’d rather you walk,” Brock told Ash. “Speaking of, should we get going?”

Misty nodded and started packing up. Ash’s ears drooped.

“I guess so. I can’t really think of anything else I need to try out before turning back into a human.”

“Well then, while we pack everything up, you can keep working on your attacks with Pikachu,” Brock suggested.

Ash’s ears shot back up. Misty chuckled. She wondered if Ash even realized his ears kept doing that. 

“Great idea! I’ll have thunderbolt mastered in no time!”

Misty scoffed in disbelief as she watched Ash and Pikachu run over to continue their training. They faced off in a practice battle, with the added complication of trying to avoid hitting Togepi, who was running giddily all over the place, oblivious to any danger. Not that Ash’s thundershock was dangerous to begin with. Typical Togepi. Misty turned her focus to washing the dishes and being upset that Ash wasn’t helping out at all with the chores. Typical Ash. Of course, this time he had an actual excuse, but Misty was going to make him pull an extra dish duty once he turned back to normal.

Misty was drying the last bowl when an explosion behind her made her drop and break it. She ignored the shards of glass and turned to see what had caused the explosion.

“What was that?”

“Prepare for trouble!”

“And make it double.”

Misty rolled her eyes as the dust from the explosion settled and Team Rocket’s balloon came into view. She tuned out the motto and picked up the shattered bowl. The glass was much more dangerous than Team Rocket. 

Misty finished putting the glass in the trash bag just in time for Meowth’s “That’s right!” so she straightened up and glared at them.

“Team Rocket! What do you want this time?” She really wasn’t all that concerned, but she’d found that it was usually best to just humor them anyway. This exchange had become a weird sort of tradition.

“What do you think, Twerpette?” Jessie yelled, smirking before she continued. “We’re here for Pikachu, of course!”

“Both Pikachu,” Meowth clarified as he pointed a net bazooka at Ash and Pikachu, who just stared up at their enemies.

Meowth fired and netted them easily.

James grinned. “Just think how happy the boss will be! It’s not every day you come across a human who’s turned into a pokemon! Weezing, use smokescreen!”

Misty and Brock closed their eyes against the smoke and coughed. Once it cleared up, Team Rocket had disappeared. Misty beelined to Togepi, who had miraculously avoided being netted. 

“Are you alright Togepi?”

“Priii!” It trilled gleefully in response. Nothing ever fazed the adorable little eggshell.

Misty smiled back. “Good.” She turned to Brock. “We need to find their balloon and fast.”

“Right. Crobat, come out and help us look for Team Rocket’s balloon, okay?”

Crobat responded and flew dutifully away. Misty and Brock grabbed their backpacks and started searching from the ground as well.

“You know, Brock,” Misty started. “I was thinking. Maybe when we reach the next town we should invest in some plastic dishes. Why do we have glass dishes on the road anyway? It just seems like an unnessecary risk.”

“Okay, first of all,” Brock began, sounding way to offended by Misty’s totally reasonable suggestion. “My dishes are porcelain, not glass. Second of all, absolutely not! We may sleep on the ground in the middle of nowhere most nights, but at least I have standards about what I will eat out of! And what kind of friend would I be if I let you or Ash stoop so low either? Hey, Crobat’s back. Did you find them?”

Crobat nodded and pointed a wing in the right direction. Misty rolled her eyes at her companion, but didn’t say anything more on the subject as they followed Crobat’s lead.

They found Team Rocket in a small clearing near the cliff. Brock silently recalled Crobat and he and Misty took cover behind some bushes to see what was going on. Ash and Pikachu were in a small cage with metal bars, which spelled disaster for Ash if he turned back into a human before getting out of it. The two of them were taking turns using quick attack on one of the bars. Misty noticed they were attacking the same spot each time, and figured that had to be Pikachu’s idea. Ash wouldn’t have thought so rationally. Team Rocket was gathered around a little table next to their balloon. They seemed to be celebrating the successful capture of the two pikachu that they were completely ignoring over a few bites of stale crackers or something. Misty rolled her eyes. It was too soon for them to celebrate, but Misty supposed she shouldn’t complain. 

“We need to get Ash out of that cage as soon as possible. We have no idea when that spell is going to wear off,” Brock whispered urgently. “I’ll distract Team Rocket. You sneak around back and get Ash and Pikachu out of there. Then we’ll blast them off.”

Misty nodded. It felt weird having a plan beyond just yelling at them to give Pikachu back, but that’s what happens when Ash isn’t the one in charge planning, she supposed. 

Once they were far enough away from each other, Brock popped out of the bushes and shouted for Team Rocket to give it up already. Once Team Rocket recovered from the shock of being found out, James sent out Victreebel, who dutifully tried to eat its trainer with an earsplitting scream, and Jessie sent out Arbok. Brock sent out Onix and they started battling. With Team Rocket sufficiently distracted, Misty ran over to the cage, grabbed it, and darted back to the safety of the bushes.

“MISTY!” Ash yelled gleefully at full volume.

“Shut up,” Misty hissed. “They’ll hear you! We’re trying to be sneaky!”

She glanced at Team Rocket, who fortunately hadn’t noticed anything yet, and shook the bar that Ash and Pikachu had been attacking and found it to be pretty loose. She sent out Poliwhirl and asked it to finish the job, which it managed with almost no effort.

Ash sprinted out of the cage back towards Team Rocket. Pikachu cried out and followed suit, leaving Misty to roll her eyes and follow suit with Poliwhirl. Her eyes were starting to get dizzy from all the rolling they were doing today.

“Team Rocket!” Ash called once he was close enough. He tried to turn his hat backwards, but his little Pikachu arms weren’t quite long enough to manage that, so it drooped lopsided. “You’ll pay for this!”

“The twerp!” Team Rocket cried out in unison. 

“How did you escape?” James asked before Jessie turned to glare at her partner.

“You left the key lying around didn’t you? And weren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on them?” Jessie said with her hands on her hips.

“I thought Meowth was watching them!”

“Enough arguing, we’re still in the middle of a battle!” Meowth ordered. 

“Oh yeah. Victreebel, use your razor leaf attack!”

Ash dodged with a grin and launched into a thundershock, which Victreebel barely noticed. That wiped the grin right off Ash’s face. 

“Looks like you need more training, Twerp. Vine whip!”

Victreebel wrapped its vines around Ash, who used quick attack to run in circles. He spun Victreebel around with him, making it dizzy enough to let go, which sent it flying backwards into James, who crashed into the balloon behind him. At the same time, Onix attacked Arbok, making it crash into Jessie and Meowth, and all three of them also crashed into the balloon. 

Pikachu ran up next to Ash, and in perfect sync, Ash launched a thundershock and Pikachu a thunderbolt. Team Rocket, unsurprisingly, went flying.

“We’re blasting off again!” They called as they disappeared into the distance. 

Misty waved goodbye. “Good riddance!”

“Ash, Pikachu, are you two okay?” Brock asked, converting to caretaker mode and examining Pikachu.

“Pika pika!” Pikachu exclaimed with a grin.

“Yeah, we’re good. I’m glad we got out of that cage before the spell wore off though.”

Misty nodded. “Me too. I think you need to work on your thundershock a bit more though. Victreebel barely even noticed you attacked!”

“Hey, I can use thundershock better than you can! Besides, electric attacks aren’t very affective against grass type pokemon, so Victreebel was at an advantage!”

Misty scoffed. “What kind of argument is that? Of course I can’t use thundershock. Even if I turned into a pokemon, I would clearly be a water type pokemon, like Tentacruel or Starmie!”

“Or a Gyrados.” Ash and Brock chimed in in unison.

Misty growled. The audacity! “I am not like a Gyrados!”

“Actually, you’re right. You’d put the cruel in Tentacruel,” Ash said while Brock just chuckled.

“You’re the worst, Ash Ketchum. Should we hit the road?”

“Alright! Off to Blackthorn City and my eighth gym badge!” Ash pumped his fist into the air. “If I’m still a pokemon I wonder if the gym leader will let me actually be in the battle.”

Brock hummed thoughtfully. “Well, hopefully the spell will wear off before we get there. The gym leader would probably just think we’re crazy. Besides, at your level, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Ash didn’t bother responding, and they walked in comfortable silence at an uncomfortably slow pace to accommodate Ash and Pikachu for about half an hour before Ash suddenly turned back into a human with a puff of smoke.

“Hey, welcome back Ash,” Brock said casually.

“Lily’s magic spell finally wore off,” Misty pointed out, as though that wasn’t obvious.

“That was fun,” Ash said. “But it’s good to be standing on two legs again.”

“Pika pika!” 

Pikachu happily hopped onto Ash’s shoulder and they continued their trek through the forest as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all that day.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Pokemon fanfiction, and I'm not too sure about my characterizations of everybody. I don't think I did too poorly, but if anyone has any constructive criticism or suggestions on how to make the characters better, please let me know! I would like to write more Pokemon fanfics in the future, and I want to do it right!


End file.
